335
OTTAWA — A federal election would kill any attempt by MPs to cite for contempt Tory witnesses who ignored parliamentary summonses to election-finance hearings last week, and opposition politicians argue it is a key reason the government wants to rush to the polls.
More than a dozen Conservatives boycotted the hearings, including a half-dozen who had received a summons from the Commons ethics committee.
Opposition MPs have threatened to take tougher action if the reluctant witnesses do not appear between Sept. 15 and 30 – which could include issuing a Speaker's warrant, or having the Commons cite them for contempt.
But the committee, each summons and any attempt to pursue or cite witnesses will die if an election is called first, and Parliament is dissolved, procedural experts say. Once that happens, the matter is not revived in the next Parliament unless the new ethics committee starts all over again.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper smiles at the podium where he spoke at a Conservative party barbeque in Kitchener, Ont., Tuesday. (The Canadian Press)
Videos
Harper continues election talk
The Prime Minister sets a collision course for a fall election, indicating he will decide in a few weeks whether to call a national vote
Related Articles
“The summons dies with the dissolution of Parliament for an election,” said Thomas Hall, a former Commons committee clerk and procedural clerk.
The opposition began the hearings into the Conservatives' so-called in-and-out scheme from the last election, where the national party transferred money into the campaigns of local candidates to pay for a share of party advertising, and then took it back.
Elections Canada has alleged it was a scheme to overspend the party's national limit by $1-million, by transferring national campaign expenses to candidates. The Tories say all parties have done the same kind of thing, and they just did more.
The Conservatives have called the hearings a “kangaroo court” and complained the opposition chose all the witnesses, and refused Tory suggestions. Last week, several Conservatives, including some who were summoned, skipped the hearings, and one Conservative candidate's agent said a party organizer told witnesses not to attend.
It's relatively rare for a committee to even issue a summons, let alone for a witness to ignore one, in part because the full Commons still has the power to enforce a committee's orders, said parliamentary procedure expert Ned Franks.
The Speaker can issue a warrant, and the Commons can cite the recalcitrant witness for contempt – normally just a very public condemnation, although the Commons, at least in theory, retains the long-unused power to fine or even imprison.
Former Liberal cabinet minister and Royal Canadian Mint president David Dingwall was able to evade a summons to testify on his lobbying activities in 2005, as his lawyer refused to accept service.
Mr. Dingwall did not show up, but he was scheduled to appear on the day Paul Martin called an election after losing a confidence vote, so the matter died with the dissolution of Parliament.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he will decide in a few weeks whether to call an election, and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion accused him of trying to dodge the in-and-out hearings.
“That's the only thing that can stop us. Because we are bound and determined to drag … all these senior Conservatives before the committee. And it's going to be embarrassing,” said MP Pat Martin, the New Democrat on the ethics committee.
“It certainly contradicts the spirit of the fixed-election date laws to manipulate the election date to avoid embarrassment. … Maybe they figured better to take one or two days of bad headlines than risk genuinely damaging testimony, and if they're going to pack up Parliament anyway, then they're scot-free.”
Mr. Harper's communications director, Kory Teneycke, said it is “silly” to accuse the government of wanting an election just to shut down the committee.
Although he said the party wonders whether it's worth participating, he said the Prime Minister is considering an election call because partisan obstruction in Parliament goes far beyond the ethics committee.
“What this is about is whether the government can have a mandate to get a legislative agenda through the House of Commons, to be able to provide certainty in leadership for the country in what are challenging times,” Mr. Teneycke said.
